Area measuring device



1943- L MIDDLETON 2,327,657

AREA MEASURING DEVICE Filed April- 22, .1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTUR.

ATTURNEY I Aug. 24, 1943. L. MIDDLETON 2,327,657

AREA MEASURING DEVICE Filed April. 22, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7llllllIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 'I/III/II/II/I/I/IIIIIIIIIIIII/A VIIIIIIIIIIIIIII/IIIIII/IIIl/l/I IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII. 'II/IIIIIlII I/II 1 n I I ll Z IIIIIIII L EON M10124 5 row mmvmn A TTORNEY Patented Aug. 24, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE AREA MEASURING DEVICE Leon Middleton, Quitaque, Tex.

Application April 22, 1949, Serial No. 330,846

1 Claim.

My invention consists of certain new and useful improvements in area measuring devices and is designed to be principally used in farm work and in combination with agricultural implements, such as plows, planters, manure Spreaders, the like, for the purpose of determining and recording accurately the area plowed, planted, or otherwise treated, without regard to the regularity of direction pursued by the machine in the process. t is particularly useful when plowing or planting contour leveed farms, where the furrows necessarily follow the curves of the levees, and calculation of the area treated is complicated and difficult.

I attain these objects by mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my device, showing it attached to a farm plow.

2 is a side elevation of the machine, the same View as shown in Fig. l but on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a side view detail of a portion of the device, showing the method of raising and lowering the register driving wheel, and a method of applying a brake to the said driving wheel.

Fig. 5 is a. vertical section on the line 55 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a section of the recording and computing mechanism taken on the line fi6 in Fig. 8.

7 is a section on the line 'il of Fig. 8.

Fig. 8 is a sectional view of the case, showing a plan View of the computing and recording mechanism.

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the computing and recording mechanism ready to be mounted on the measuring wheel.

In the accompanying drawings, on which like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views:

1 is a plow, or a series of plows, arranged laterally and drawn by a tractor or other means 2, the said plow being arranged so as to be capable of being raised or lowered at the discretion of the operator by means of the lever 3.

The measuring wheel 4, carrying at its hub the container 5 of th computing and recording mechanism, is tightly mounted on the shaft 6, said shaft being mounted in the ball bearings I. The shaft 6 is held against lateral motion by the nuts 8.

The shaft 6 is rigidly connected by the forked member 9 to the supporting bar 10, which is in turn rigidly connected by the clamp H to the carrying bar l2, the forward end of which is tightly clamped by the block 13, which has a limited rotative movement in the pin I4, which is in turn mounted to rotate in the clamp 15 which is clamped to the shank of the plow, or other farming impl ment I. Extending laterally from the clamp I5 is a lifting pin l6, impinging the under side of the carrying bar 12. Mounted on the pin 14 is a coil spring H which bears downwardly on the carrying bar !2 and upwardly on the clamp i5, thus insuring constant contact of the measuring wheel 4 with the ground, despite inequalities of the surface traversed.

A method of applying a brake to the measuring wheel 4, when the plow or other farming implement is lifted from the ground, to prevent its free rotation and consequent over registration, is illustrated in detail by Fig. 4.

Rigidly mounted on the carrying bar I2 is a clamp ll, carrying a pivoted bell crank [8, the lower leg of which contacts the upper surface of the lifting pin iii. The vertical leg of the bell crank it is connected to the vertical arm of the pivoted angular braking member L! by the chain 23, causing the brake shoe 2| to form a braking contact with the periphery of the measuring wheel 4, illustrated in this view by a dotted 1ine. When the farming implement is returned to the ground, the brake is automatically released by the spring 22.

Attached to the rear of the forked member 9 is a scraper 23, which is held close to the periphery of the measuring wheel 4, in order to prevent the accumulation of mud in the wheel, thereby impairing its accuracy.

The container 5 of the computing and recording mechanism is bolted to the forked member 9 in the manner shown in Fig. 5; To the end of the axle shaft 5, and fastened thereto by the cotter pin coupling 24, is a shaft 25 driving the gear 26. The gear 25 drives the intermediate gear 21 and the pinion 2B which is made integral with the gear 21.

The pinion 28 drives the intermediate 2:), to which is made integral the pinion which drives the gear 3!, which by means of the shaft 32 actuates the computing and recording counter 33. The counter is a standard type counter consisting of a series of discs with numbers from zero to ten on the periphery of each, one number of each disc being visible in a reading slot in the case 5. As each disc at the right of the slot makes one complete revolution the disc its left advances one number.

The intermediate gear 21 and its integrally made pinion 28 are pivoted in the arm 34, which is pivoted on the axle of the intermediate gear 29 and the pinion 323. The opposite end of the arm 36 is fastened to he case 5 by the stud bolt A series of tapped holes 36 in the case 5, the

said holes being arranged concentrically with relation to the pivot of the intermediate gear 38, enables changes to be made in the gear ratios by the substitution of gears toreplace the intermediate gear 21", or the driving gear 2%, or both gears.

The necessity for this changing of the ratio of the gearing between the measuring wheel 4 and the counting and recording mechanism 33 is that the counting mechanism must register in terms of area rather han in terms of distance covered. For example, the drawings illustrate my device as fitted to a typical plow which plows two 40 inch rows. This is a strip of land 80 inches wide, and when the plow has progresseda distance of 654 feet, one tenth of an acre would have been plowed and this would have been plowed and would be recorded on the counter as 0000.1 acre. If a greater or lesser width of land is treated changes are made in the gear ratio by the means herein described and illustrated.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim:

In combination with an agricultural implement, an areameasuring machine for attachment to the said implement having a measuring wheel adapted to engagement with the ground, a frame comprising a fork member embracing the said wheel having a coupling bar adjustably attached thereto for connection with the said implement, a clamp pivotally attaching the said bar to the said implement, a brake member operating on the said wheel and pivotally supported by the said frame, a bell crank member pivotally supported by the said coupling bar having an operative connection with the said brake and means comprising a pin rigidly supported by the said attaching clamp adapted to be engaged by one leg of the said bell crank to rotate the same and operate the said brake member.

LEON MIDDLETON. 

